


don't be a hero (That Time The Palace gets Attacked)

by ang3lba3, Mellomailbox



Series: Baby Dragons and other founders of Republic City [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ambassador Sokka, Dragons, Escape, Fire Lord Zuko, M/M, Mai and Zuko have twins Iroh and Izumi, Original Character(s), Polyamory, Sieges, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ang3lba3/pseuds/ang3lba3, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mellomailbox/pseuds/Mellomailbox
Summary: “Ursa, baby, go with Daddy,” Zuko says, and pushes her towards Sokka. “Me and Mai have to fight.”
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Baby Dragons and other founders of Republic City [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721398
Comments: 18
Kudos: 316





	don't be a hero (That Time The Palace gets Attacked)

**Author's Note:**

> mello: so evan and i just accidentally wrote 3 ficlets in one writing sesh so here ya go
> 
> notable info: we're messing with the offspring of the gaang for this series cause uhhh the beifongs in lok canon are too hot for us to write as kids and also messing with lok wiki is exhausting
> 
> basically mai and zuko have twins, iroh and izumi. they're rought 18/mo at the time of this fic.

Sokka has both Iroh and Izumi clutched in each arm, bare feet slapping against the freezing tile as he rushes towards Zuko’s chambers. There’s screaming in the distance, and the sound of the warning horns. 

“ _Intruders!”_ Shouts a guard a few halls down, and then there’s the sharp crack of blades meeting. Sokka turns on his heel, Izumi whimpering against his neck and doubles back. 

“SOKKA!” Zuko screams as he spots him, and then, “WHERE’S URSA?”

“She’s a dragon! Leave her!” Sokka shouts. “She’ll be able to defend herself just fine!”

“She’s my _baby,”_ Zuko snaps, and skids around a corner, almost running into Mai. Mai is holding the hand of a girl Sokka’s never seen before, maybe eight years old, wearing red Fire Nation styled robes, her long hair caught up with blue ribbons.

“MOMMY!” she wails, and launches herself at Zuko’s legs. 

“WHAT,” Sokka shouts, and she whips around, gold eyes shining with fleck of red, the iris a familiar slit as it adjusts to the fluctuation of the wall sconces. 

“Ursa, baby, go with Daddy,” Zuko says, and pushes her towards Sokka. “Me and Mai have to fight.” 

“WHAT,” Sokka shouts again.

“Daddy is fragile,” Ursa says solemnly, and darts towards him, fisting a hand in the hem of his shirt. “Daddy can’t touch fire. Ursa will protect him and the babies.” 

“I love you,” Zuko says, though it’s not clear who he’s talking to. “Now _get out of here._ ”

“You’ve been _fucking with me this whole time,_ ” Sokka swears, and then, readjusting his grip on Iroh so that he can reach for her, “I’m so _fucking proud of you._ ” 

Ursa grins up at him. She’s not missing any of her teeth. Her eyes glint red as rubies in her round face.

“Now is not the time for this,” Mai says calmly. The commotion is getting closer, and she pulls her hands from the sleeves of her robes, revealing knives where they glint between each knuckle. 

“I’m not leaving you to fight alone,” Sokka snaps stupidly at them. Zuko’s pulling his dao from their sheaths, probably attempting to spare the palace of as much burn damage as possible. They’re better for close quarters anyways, and Zuko’s got to make sure not to accidentally injure any of his own men in what is likely to be a long, close quartered siege. 

“You promised,” Zuko grits out, “to protect them if this--”

“WE NEED TO GO,” Ursa says just as Mai shouts, “There isn’t time for this!”

Sokka’s going to say something else, but Ursa looks directly at him, and her grin widens and widens, and there’s _fire on her tongue_ and— 

“Right, yep, good point from the scariest lady in the room, let’s go,” Sokka says, and starts off at a pace that he thinks Ursa can follow. She urges him faster and faster, until he’s panting for breath and she’s breathing serene and even beside him. 

_I have a dragon for a daughter,_ Sokka thinks wildly. _Katara’s airbenders are NOTHING._

There’s a deafening shriek as the last set of metal door are broken in, and it takes everything in Sokka not to turn around and watch. Zuko and Mai will be fine-- they have to be, _they have to be_ , there’s no alternative that Sokka can accept. As they rush to the secret entrance to the catacombs beneath the palace Sokka runs through the plan in his head again. 

It’s foolproof. He should know, he’s the one who made it. He’s the _plan guy_ , and his plans always keep his family safe. They always win. 

Except for that one time they didn’t. 

There’s a furious scream from above them that sounds chillingly like it could be Mai, if Sokka had ever heard her raise her voice. There’s anguish in it, and retribution, and Ursa clutches at him more tightly and raises wide, worried eyes at him. They’re to the canoe, now, bobbing gently in the irrigation stream, and there’s a terrifying moment of indecision where all that Sokka wants to do is set the babies in the canoe with Ursa and order her to stay put so that he can rush back and rescue Zuko. 

_Don’t be a hero,_ a voice says in his head. It sounds suspiciously like Toph. 

“You ready to go visit with Great Uncle Iroh?” Sokka asks Ursa. He can’t go back. The first fool he proofs in plans is always himself, and he’s not allowed to break them.

“Daddy,” Ursa whimpers, flinching as there’s another crash and scream, closer this time. Sokka steps into the canoe, passes the twins to Ursa, and pulls the bow and arrow stowed under the seat into his lap. 

Ursa settles them familiarly in each arm, and gods she’s probably spent _hours_ in this form with them, the little wretch, and nods once, chin wobbling as she stiffens her upper lip bravely. Sokka gives it the respect it deserves and nods back, unlooping the rope keeping them moored, the natural current swiftly pulling them away from the orange flickering of the palace under attack. 

Right now Iroh and Izumi are both too tired to do anything more than grumble discontentedly in Ursa’s lap, but sooner rather than later they’re going to wake fully and express their discontent. Barely past one years old and they’ve been primed for a lot, but escaping a warzone without their parents wasn’t a part of their early stages curriculum. “Do you know how to sing?” Sokka asks, because they’re both on the verge of tears, and this is going to be a long trip.

“Yes?” Ursa says.

Sokka grins, and it’s hardly even forced. “Okay. Okay. Then I have a Water Tribe classic to teach you, one that we sing on long journeys. It goes like this….

_“99 bottles of eel juice on the wall, 99 bottles of eel juice, take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of eel juice on the wall...”_

“No!” Izumi says, smacking Ursa in the face with a fat palm. “No!” 

“Maybe you should leave the singing to me,” Ursa says. “They like the song _Embers and Marigolds.”_

“I’m an acquired taste,” Sokka sniffs. 

“No,” Ursa says. “You’re just bad.”

“I can’t believe Zuko and Mai are raising you _racist,”_ Sokka says. “No cultural appreciation except for Fire Nation.”

They’re coming to the mouth of the tunnel, now, and Sokka tightens his hold on the bow, tensing. Ursa seems to pick up on his change in body-language and purses her lips shut, carefully cupping two palms over the twins’ mouths. 

They pass without issue and Sokka blows out the breath he was holding, exchanging the bow for a paddle. They have enough provisions to get them through the two days it will take to travel the small, winding river towards the former colonies. 

“Alright, alright,” Sokka says, and gives Ursa a smile. “So show me this amazing singing you’ve been practicing— while _human shaped—_ all this time.”

“Okay,” she agrees, “and then you can tell me all about how you thought Mommy was crazy and threw away my pretty drawings like _trash._ ”

“Tough crowd in this canoe.” Sokka winces. 

“Are Mommy and Mai gonna be ok?” Ursa asks. 

“Hey, chin up,” Sokka says, nudging at her jaw. “We’ll see them after we have our fun vacation that I totally planned and stuff.”

She blinks at him, eyes big and wet, practically glowing in the moonlight. Sokka points upwards, at the moon, and shrugs. “You see that? That’s the moon spirit. She and I go way back, and she’s real’ powerful. She’s watching us right now; you, me, the stinkbombs in your arms—” 

Ursa glowers at him and holds them closer,

“--And everyone back at the palace. If we ask her real nice she’ll keep them safe. I promise.” 

Ursa looks doubtful as she glances towards the midnight sky. And why shouldn’t she? She’s a creature of the sun, after all, the great goddess Agni. 

“How did you meet the moon spirit?” she asks. 

Sokka snorts. He doubts she’s gonna believe this one, but he kind of wonders what she’ll say— maybe like mother, like daughter, huh? “Well… that’s a long story… but we’ve got the time. It all started when I traveled to the Northern Water Tribe with Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara…”

**Author's Note:**

> “AND YOU KNOW WHAT SHE SAID, ZUKO?” Sokka shouts, waving his arms. They’ve both gained scars and lost weight in their time apart, and it feels good to be pressed skin to skin in Zuko’s opulent sheets again.
> 
> “What’d she say,” Zuko asks, smiling at Sokka fondly, tracing the curve of his collarbone absently.
> 
> “She said,” Sokka says. “She said, _that’s rough, Daddy.”_
> 
> (We've started an 18+ Zukka Chaos discord! Click here [here](https://discord.gg/9qbzhcb) to join.)
> 
> Zuko, the fucking traitor, _cackles._
> 
> [[find ang3lba3 on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/cryingiscooltm)]]


End file.
